LEGO The Lord of the Rings Review
Exploring a plastic version of Middle-earth is immensely satisfying in Lego The Lord of the Rings.
The Good
- Tells the familiar story in a satisfying way
- Lots of goodies to uncover
- Exploration is encouraged and fun
- Faithful to the spirit of the source material.
The Bad
- Stages can get repetitive when played alone
- Occasional bugs can sometimes annoy.
Those who have never played one of the many Lego games developed by TT Games might find it difficult to believe that a beloved franchise such as The Lord of the Rings can benefit from a simplified narrative and family-friendly gameplay. The notion seems absurd, and yet past releases have capably proven that plastic blocks and theatrical blockbusters can make a great mix. That's particularly evident in the case of Lego The Lord of the Rings.
Though the game doesn't offer many narrative surprises, the lack of unexpected twists actually works in its favor. If you've seen the movies, you know the story of the brave hobbit Frodo and his journey to a well-guarded volcano where he hopes to destroy the cursed bauble he carries. All of the nastiest creatures in the land would be delighted to pry "the One Ring" from Frodo's cold, dead hands, and the capable people who should protect him are usually busy facing similarly important struggles of their own. The characters' combined adventures provided ample fodder for hours of cinematic excellence, and now Peter Jackson's three enormous films have been crammed into a single game.
This latest adaptation of the classic tale doesn't feel like a cheap substitute for the epic story, even though the protagonists are now fashioned from plastic. The most riveting moments from the film trilogy are recreated here--even a few that existed almost entirely for the sake of character development or mild comic relief, such as the contest between Legolas and Gimli to see who could slay the most orcs. The shrugs, smirks, and tension-diffusing humor that are standard practice in Lego games have been supplemented here with extensive spoken dialogue that was pulled directly from the movies. Kids will love seeing characters skewered by fruit or snuggling with teddy bears, while parents will appreciate the minimal violence.
A fascinating story and great voice work can carry a game only so far, though, and Lego The Lord of the Rings benefits from a solid gameplay foundation that should keep players of all ages coming back for more even when they already know how everything ends. Stages generally consist of a series of basic puzzles, occasionally interrupted by battles with small enemy groups that are easily overwhelmed. You can swap protagonists instantly to gain access to their respective abilities, and there are no permanent deaths. Characters briefly falls to pieces but almost immediately return to the action.
The worst punishment you face is the loss of a portion of the studs you've collected, which means you could be deprived of a True Adventurer bonus once you clear the stage. Advancing from the game's prologue to its closing credits will probably take you no more than 10 or 12 hours, but actually reaching 100 percent completion could easily take twice that long. Mostly, you are allowed to decide what sort of experience you want to get from playing, within the established framework.
Due to the occasionally distracting volume of available content that practically begs to be discovered, a dynamic stud trail guides you to the next story sequence. Banners are spread throughout the open world and handily mark the entrances to action stages, but adventurers can easily get turned around without additional assistance. Fortunately, it's easy to warp directly to places you have previously visited, or to consult a map and set helpful waypoints. The stud trails unerringly lead you toward a chosen point unless you find a new obsession. Detours from the beaten path aren't a problem, either; the translucent stud trail quickly adapts and calculates the best route from your current location to your chosen destination at all times. That helpful mechanic isn't new to video games or even to the Lego franchise, but it's tremendously useful all the same.
Definitely going to have to get this. I finished playing the Helms Deep demo and I was pretty amazed on how faithful it is to the movie, but also adding the LEGO humor to it.
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Oh god...3 days ago i finally finished Lego Star Wars TCE (1000 GS) and i really have enough of Lego games for some time lol
That is...till Lego Star Trek comes out :)
This looks great but you know what would be even better ? Lego Conan the Barbarian and Destroyer !
This looks like great fun :)
Yup, definitely getting this. I played the crap out of Star Wars and Indiana Jones when I was younger, and this game reminds me of how much fun I had playing video games at one point (instead of the raging that goes on for any fps.. or any game for that matter...). Don't think that people who play these kinds of games are little kids though, I'm 17. Lego games have always been some of the best out there, and I found myself enjoying the demo on XBL way more than I thought I would. Lego humor is the most refreshing thing in the world.
So yea, definitely getting this.
I played LEGO Star Wars a ton, played LEGO Indiana Jones a ton, I got all of the achievements for LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean. I am most definitely getting this. (and like Rat_King I'm not a little kid)
I love the Lego games and no I'm not a little kid. I'll probably pick this up when it's $10 on Steam, maybe sooner.
However, nit picky nerd alert here so beware, as a die hard Tolkien fan, I don't think it's fair to say it's faithful to the source material when it's based on the films, which were not faithful AT ALL. It's like saying the Hitman movie was faithful to the source material.
But I guess if you're looking to relive the movies, then this is a good choice. Just don't expect it to be true to the ACTUAL source material....
Rat_King The movies were not faithful AT ALL to the books? AT ALL? Really? >_>I´ve also read them so please, indulge me with your knowledge
Pyrobon Oh man where to start. They still did a good job capturing the books, but you need to re-read them if you think they were accurate. Even the extended editions.
Let's see...well, elves never fought at Helms Deep. Sam and Frodo never got into a little boyfriend/girlfriend fight (they were the epitome of best friends, not emo high schoolers) when climbing the stairs. Shelob's scene took place in the second book and was infinitely more detailed, considering Sam was with him. How about the multiple chapters when Sam takes the ring from Frodo, uses it several times, and has his own mini adventure to save Frodo from the orcs (alluded to for 10 seconds), only to give it back no hesitation at all (slight hesitation in the movies). Don't even get me started on what they left out/added of all of Aragorn's story. Oh and in the books Faramir is one of the most bad ass characters, soooo underrated in the films, and Denethor isn't some evil dictator.
Honestly this is just the tip, if you want more feel free to message me because I could name plenty more. Again, I love the movies, but the sad fact is it's very Hollywood. So many people claim to have read the books but somehow missed out on all the blatant inaccuracies....makes me wonder....
Rat_King That's because no one has missed out anything Rat King . The thing is you're overlooking how the process of adapting a book to a movie is. To say that they were not faithful AT ALL is an exaggeration considering the scope of the series. None of the things you mentioned are essential neither to the spirit of the story nor to the development of the blog.Is like the freaking constant point that Tom Bombadil didn't appear. It doesn't matter, the movies were long enough and that didn't change the core themes or events.I disagree. Peter Jackson did one extraordinary job of adaptation, and i think its fair to say no other director, with such a huge and complex material in his hands, has done such a great job understanding and sticking to the concept.In my opinion, it's far more what he was faithful to that what he wasn't.
Pyrobon Wow dude, I could instantly tell you're full of it and haven't read the books. Those things I mentioned, which like I said are hardly the only inaccuracies, are MAJOR changes, not subtle differences. I didn't even have to mention Bombadil and my comment was still too long. Freakin' elves at Helms Deep. Solely so they could show audiences that elves wore cool armor. How is that essential? Cool, yes. Essential to the spirit of the books, hardly. If anything it conveys the exact OPPOSITE of what was happening in the books. Not to mention they rearranged the entire story. Stuff in book 1 happens in movie 3, stuff in 3 happens in 2 etc
I'm a die hard Tolkien fan bud, I literally worship the guy. I've seen the movies more times than I can count and have read the books just as many. I said the movies did a great job of capturing the feel of the books. I'm not overlooking sh**. Fact is, A LOT of what happened in the movies never happened in the books. A lot. Not even just skipping things, they took important chunks out and added ridiculous chunks in. All I'm saying is it's a game based on the movies, which I know they made clear, but saying it's faithful to the source material is slightly misleading, especially when it's such a big name title.
@Rat_King The books and films have totally different audiences. There is a lot that needs to be added or changed cause of production and marketing reasons, yes.You say that your list is just some of the things, i'm aware of that. I'm aware of how many licenses the movies took. I'm asking you for what you consider the biggest changes, the ones that make the movie not faithful (In your opinion). I still fail to consider them of extreme importance. They were all in there for the dramatic purposes of storytelling in film, which is totally different that the one in novels."Then convey the exact OPPOSITE of what was happening in the books" How so?The themes of nature vs industrialism, of power and war, the purpose behind every character, AND the key plot points are there. I do agree about the portrayal of Denethor, plus Gollum protoganism in the films was greatly expanded. I'm not gonna discuss with you the fact that you to discredit the fact i've read the books, nor i wont enter in a competition with you about who is the greatest fan or who has read the books more times. I prefer arguments and logic rather than showing off. I have no reason not to believe you've read the books more times that you can count, we simply disagree. I think the list of things he was faithful to is far more relevant.
Rat_King I was probably more annoyed with the couldn't get to see the Scoulding of the Shire, which was a marvelous way of depicting that the tragedies of war didn't end with the war itself. Plus, it changed Saruman's death to a far cheesier one. But again, The Return of The King was far too long already and i understand there was no time left
Pyrobon Dude you're completely blowing my point out of proportion. Calm down. All I said was it's not faithful to the real source material. I don't know where you pick up the fact I apparently don't understand it's difficult to translate a book fully to the movie. You know, considering 99.999% of book to movie adaptations are like that. You're still crying over nothing because you want to cause drama.
Fact is, it's totally different. Be in denial all you want but it's straight up fact. Really the only similarities are the battles and the geography. They've even added characters. Nowhere does it say elves are all effeminate scholars with long flowy hair. Saruman wasn't even killed in the original movies, we had to watch the extended edition with CGI fireballs (non existant). There are things they took out that they EASILY could've translated into the movie, but instead they decided it needed to be more Hollywood to appeal to audiences. It wasn't about making it fit. I've accepted this. So don't play the game thinking you know the full LOTR story because it's more interactive. That's all.
Rat_King It's pointless to have any discussion if there's no respect. I'll leave you to your opinion.
Pyrobon Rat_King Guys/gals, this convo is hilarious. Please grace us with another such fine thread after you've watched the entirety of The Hobbit.
A 9-12 hour movie from a 350-page (approx) children's book. YAY!
Lego The Hobbit lolll
astr0creep Rat_King Will try to remember around 2017 XD
astr0creep Pyrobon It was pretty hilarious. And I definitely agree they could do the Hobbit easily in two, maybe even one 3/12 hour movie.
But keep in mind it's not just The Hobbit. It's a lot of stuff from the LOTR appendices which are mini stories in themselves and, considering it's now 3 movies, I wouldn't be surprised if they have flashbacks of stuff that happens in the Silmarillion. But, as Gandalf once said, there is no hope. Only a fool's hope...
Rat_King
It clearly seems like you know what you're talking about. No point in arguing with people just for the sake of it. If you read the book ALOT of times, that is not showing off, you are simply informing the other person of how well informed you are. I go with you on thi, Ratking.
Rat_King Everything u sad is true, I'm a fan of the books and the movie's i love both. yes they missed out a lot to do with the books, but if they filmed it like the books the story would have been 100 hours long and it woundnt have been made. The council of Elrond would have been 30 hour's long on it's own. Also they set out to tell the story of Frodo and destroying the one ring thats why they missed out things like tom bombadil, saruman destroying the shire etc etc. so i understand why they did it the way they did but the books are way better than the movies but i still think the movies are great.
jayjay444 Definitely. Personally, I think they could've maybe trimmed back juuuust a little bit from the Bree scene to make time for a shortish Bombadil scene. That was a pretty important part of Frodo's journey. The Frodo falling and the ring magically landing onto his finger. Interesting idea, but would you rather see that or Tom Bombadil? :P
But, what's done is done. I'm just looking forward to meeting Radagast...hope they don't mess him up.
Raginfrijoles Yikes, I'd highly suggest seeking therapy. A) because Taken sucked and B) If talking about Tolkien drives you to murder...well...don't see the Hobbit premier. I think our movie premiers have had a hard enough time this year...
Rat_King Good-bye humor, I knew thee well. It twas only for a short while, but I had fun. R.I.P.
Raginfrijoles Interesting.
I mean, I guess sending someone a specific "I will kill you" link for no real reason on gamespot comments is kind of funny. Like Andy Kaufmann funny, meaning it's just...weird. So I guess if that's what you were going for then apparently you succeeded. So now it's time for you to start wrestling old women...
To be fair I admit I did laugh...but it wasn't at the video.
Also I did give a disclaimer, so I knew my comment would turn into this. And THAT was hilarious.
Raginfrijoles Broken link...also not very funny.
@Rat_King @Raginfrijoles www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7Myff5xAZM
Raginfrijoles Ah, that explains it. It's ok, others will support you and your lifestyle.
Community is a great show though.
Rat_King The source material for the game are the movies, not the books.
This is the first Lego game I have ever played and its fantastic, im now going to get Lego Pirates of the Carribean.
Lego LOTR so far is the best game I have played all year.
kekejefferis If I may, I'd suggest Lego Star Wars before Pirates. Unless you're like a huge Pirates fan, the SW series is infinitely cooler IMO.
Rat_King Thanks but sadly i'm not much of a Star wars fan.
I have seen the Pirates films many times so i'll stick with that one for now. However if I really enjoy that then i'll certainly check out the Star wars ones for some more Lego fun.
Not sure on the Harry potter ones though i'll probably avoid those as i'm really not a HP fan.
Though my jaw did drop when I read "not much of a Star Wars fan," I'll give you the benefit of a doubt and say fair enough :p
As for the HP ones....I do love the HP series, but they did seem a little more....stale than the others. The devs took a queue from those and mixed it up a little with the next series.
But they also have Lego Batman which is TONS of fun as well as Lego Indiana Jones. On my side I guess I'm not that big of a PoC fan. So I actually never tried those. But if you wanna re-live it as Legos, definitely go for it. If you want something different, I'd say Batman or Indiana Jones. Have fun!!
Got this last night and only had a chance to get through the Prologue. Even so, it's clear this is another great offering in the Lego series. Like other Lego games it is well suited for adults and kids to play together. I particularly like LOTR, as it is a great way to introduce my eight-year-old son to the source material I've loved since I was a teenager.
never tried a lego game. tempted now
I think I might get this game for the 360. Is it any good?
LegoLegolas!
I had Lego Batman... Hated it.
But I gave it to my cousin's kid and he couldn't stop playing it. Great games for kids I think. I would love to try the indiana Jones...
LEGO Golum. 'Nough said =)
is this a 2 player game? I mean co op
nikos35gr Yes.
I think this game may be a bit overrated; but it still is a good game. I will really be amazed if there are more levels in this game compared to others like Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures.
The first LEGO Indiana Jones charmed the hell out of me when I finally got around to playing it quite a bit after it's release. Definitely going to look into this one sooner rather than later.
What?!?! No blood?!?!? Dang, this is nothing like war in the north!
So... is this an open-world game?
Razer361 There is an open world hub which you can freely travel from the Shire to Mordor. I think the closest game I could compare it to is the Fable ones. its genrally linear but with large locations inbetween.
Levels are accessed through flag poles in set locations on the open world.
Best. LotR game. Ever. I doubt anybody would disagree after the scene where the ring is heated to reveal the elvish script. Single funniest moment in any lego game.
The-Neon-Seal Funnier than a stormtrooper in a thong?
I'd have to say the franchise-based LEGO games are the best licensed games in my opinion. Sure the Batman Arkham series is obviously better in almost every way, but I just love how these are consistently fun each entry and haven't gotten old yet, probably from the fact they actually get better with every new release.
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LOVE THIS GAME SO MUCH! Very creative and love that it has the real dialogue from the movies.
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LEGO The Lord of the Rings
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- Publisher(s): Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer(s): TT Games
- Genre: Action
- Release: Nov 13, 2012 (US) »
- ESRB: E10+
